Vacancy rate in eastern Germany higher than in the west

The housing vacancy rate in eastern Germany remained significantly higher than in the west in 2022. The market-active vacancy rate for multi-storey apartments was 5.8 percent in eastern Germany (excluding Berlin) and 1.9 percent in the west, as the consulting institute Empirica announced in Berlin on Monday. In its analysis together with real estate specialist CBRE, Empirica focuses on the "market-active vacancy rate" - i.e. apartments that can be rented out immediately or activated in the medium term.

The highest vacancy rates in the west were found in Pirmasens (Rhineland-Palatinate) at 8.6 percent and in Frankfurt (Oder) at 8.4 percent and Dessau-Roßlau at 8.3 percent in the east. The vacancy rate in Leipzig has shrunk the most since 2017 by 1.9 percentage points. There were also large declines in Halle (Saale) and Brandenburg an der Havel. In contrast, only Dessau-Roßlau has seen a significant increase in vacant apartments over the last five years at 1.3 percent.

Across Germany, the vacancy rate fell by around 53,000 to 554,000 apartments compared to 2021, which is the biggest decline in over 20 years. Empirica does not take into account "ruins" or dysfunctional vacancies. The overall vacancy rate is higher, it said.

The figures of the CBRE-empirica vacancy index are based on management data from CBRE (around 915,000 residential units at the end of 2022) as well as extensive analyses and estimates based on the Empirica regional database and the Federal Statistical Office.